Solana's largest third-party client Jito will airdrop JTO tokens on 12/8, with staking users enjoying an 80% share.

Solana's largest third-party client and liquidity staking protocol Jito announced last week that it will issue governance token JTO. Yesterday, it announced the eligibility and distribution of the airdrop, reserving 80% of the JTO airdrop allocation for SOL staking records most likely associated with regular users.

This article is not investment advice

What is Jito

Jito provides users with SOL liquidity services through the third-party client Jito-Solana, allowing users to stake SOL and utilize JitoSOL for other fund management strategies, similar to Ethereum's Lido protocol.

Moreover, taking advantage of Solana's design without a mempool and extremely fast transaction speeds, Jito has successfully created a MEV market in the industry. Stakers and nodes can earn additional MEV rewards through profit-sharing from MEV searchers, resulting in higher overall returns compared to other Solana nodes. As of this month, the Jito-Solana client holds over 41% of Solana network nodes.

JTO Token Project

Last week, the Jito team announced the establishment of a foundation and the launch of the governance token JTO during the thriving Solana market, with plans for an airdrop. Today, detailed information and the token address have been announced. Latest update: Airdrop withdrawals will begin on December 8th.

JTO Token Address: jtojtomepa8beP8AuQc6eXt5FriJwfFMwQx2v2f9mCL

The token address also reveals the team's cleverness, as it starts with JTOJTO.

JTO Airdrop Schedule

The Jito team has indicated that token claiming has not yet begun, and there is no specific airdrop date set. Once airdrops commence, the Jito Foundation will announce information through official channels, cautioning users against clicking on any unofficial links.

All claimable JTO tokens will be available for 18 months. After the token generation date, unclaimed tokens will be transferred to the DAO treasury's Realms wallet.

JTO Airdrop Eligibility

Users can check their airdrop eligibility and quotas through the official website. There are three categories for JTO token airdrops:

• JitoSOL Users: Holders of JitoSOL points exceeding 100, with a snapshot taken between January 1st and November 25th this year, will receive 80% of the airdrop allocation.
• Jito-Solana Validators: Validators running the Jito-Solana client between epochs 366 and 536, and at least one epoch during 527 to 536 with the client, will receive 15% of the airdrop allocation.
• Jito MEV Searchers: Searchers must have accumulated 1 SOL through the Jito MEV market between epochs 366 and 536 to be eligible for 5% of the airdrop allocation.

Due to other token allocations, all core contributors are not included in the JTO airdrop program.

80% of JTO airdrop allocation is for general users. To ensure fair distribution, the Jito Foundation implements tiered distribution for JitoSOL users, allowing smaller holders to receive relatively larger rewards. After implementing anti-whale measures, there are a total of 9,852 unique addresses eligible for rewards.

15% of JTO airdrop allocation is for node validators. Validators will receive 50% of the airdrop tokens, which will unlock linearly over 12 months. Allocation is based on node operation time and divided into four levels.

5% of JTO airdrop allocation is for MEV searchers. Qualified searchers are classified into five levels based on performance, with more active searchers receiving proportionally more tokens, contrary to the staking user grading system.

Similar to validators, 50% of the tokens received by MEV searchers will unlock linearly over 12 months.

User-Centric Approach by Jito

Why does Jito allocate a significant portion of tokens to general staking users? Are validators and MEV searchers less important?

• From the distribution model of this airdrop and the overall token distribution, it is evident that Jito values general users. Just like Lido, the protocol's ceiling is the volume of staked SOL, where more SOL means more profits and economies of scale.
• On the other hand, professional and profit-sensitive validators and MEV searchers are less likely to change their strategies due to airdrop factors, instead joining the ecosystem for Jito's solid interest rate advantages.
• Lastly, the Jito validator market has already reached over 41% node proportion, making it quite competitive; conversely, the amount of staked SOL is currently only 6 million, accounting for only 1.5% of the total 4 billion SOL, indicating significant growth potential.

Hence, it is understandable why the majority of JTO airdrop tokens are allocated to general users and stakers, revealing the team's clear strategic direction.

Readers are reminded that the JTO airdrop date is not confirmed yet, and besides official public channels, caution should be exercised against scam phishing links.

This article does not constitute investment advice.